it’s burning a hole through my goddamned tongue!”
“Give back what you took from me!” she yelled as adrenaline and fear broke over her, afraid their spell hadn’t worked.
“No!”
But even as he said it, she felt it. Delicious power snaked through her as everything around them began to shake. The picture above the fireplace fell to the floor. The sound of glass shattering punctuated the chaos. Books leapt from shelves and a lamp crashed to the ground.
He reached for her, but she moved away, putting the couch between them.
“What have you done, Claire?” he demanded, holding onto the mantle as her power slipped from him.
“It’s mine, Dru. It belongs to me.”
Then everything quieted like a roaring freight train that had disappeared around a bend.
“I can’t let you go. I can’t let you have it.” He moved slowly toward her.
Fiery energy and anger combusted inside her as the last bit of her essence returned. “Try to take it again, Dru. I dare you.”
“It won’t be your fire that I’ll take next time. It will have to be your life.”
A sonic boom came out of nowhere and shook the house, knocking Claire harder than a load of dynamite. She lay on the floor stunned for a few seconds before she regained her clarity and searched out Dru. He’d been knocked down as well.
He stared at her, his eyes growing wide as his gaze focused on her mid-section. Afraid of what she’d discover, she looked down. The unearthly sword Dru had used for their blood oath rested next to her.
Her gaze flew back to him. Fury owned his expression, forcing a barrage of panic to rain down on her.
“Do you know what you’ve done? Gods, woman, you’ve opened the Second Seal.”
She had no idea what that meant, but instinct screamed to get the hell out of there. In a fluid motion, she gripped the heavy sword as she got to her feet and ran for the door as a horde of invisible demons chased her.
Thick blood, weighted by magic, coursed through her veins as her boots ate the distance between Dru’s porch and Tierra’s car. The passenger door opened before she reached it, and she flung herself and the sword inside.
“Go! Go! Go!” she screamed.
She looked back to see Dru only footsteps from the car as Tierra put it into gear. She sped off before he could do anything worse than pound once on the trunk.
“You have your power!” Tierra yelled victoriously as her car raced down the road. “I can feel it.”
“Yes!” Hot adrenaline scorched her veins. “The potion worked, just not the way we thought.”
“That’s a mighty big sword you brought with you,” Moira said as she leaned over the seat, eyeing the beautiful piece of workmanship.
“It’s his sword.”
“What?” Tierra asked, glancing rapidly between the carved steel and the road.
“It came out of nowhere,” Claire said, her heart still racing. “As soon as I had my power back, there was this huge boom, and I found myself on the floor with it beside me. So I took it and ran.”
Moira laughed as she fell against the backseat. “Lord Almighty, that is just the most perfect example of karma I’ve ever heard.”
“Right?” Claire said, embracing the revelry, drunk on sweet power. “He’ll learn to mess with me.”
“Goddesses help us,” Tierra hissed, the fearful tone of her voice wiping out their excitement. “This is serious, girls.” She placed a hand on Claire’s arm. “You do realize you’ve just stolen War’s sword.”
Doomed silence encompassed the car, leaving them all to ponder the significance of what they faced.
Then a snicker escaped Tierra’s lips, and Claire turned to her, amazed. Tierra laughed again, bringing a smile to Claire’s lips. Then Moira joined in, and soon they were all laughing.
“My sisters are some pretty bad-ass witches,” Tierra said between breaths. “No one better mess with us.”
“That’s right,” Moira agreed. “Or little Cheeto. He’ll fry their asses, too.”
Love and sisterhood surrounded Claire, fueling her energy, leaving her feeling invincible.
If it wasn’t for the dangerous look she’d left on Dru’s face, everything would be perfect.
Dru stumbled into his house like a man who’d been castrated against his will. Anger pulsed through his veins and filled the hollow space that had once held Claire’s power.
She had his fucking sword.
The fact that he now understood the pain she’d endured increased his fury. The empty ache he must have left inside her when she’d given her gift to him. Afterward, the overwhelming need to retrieve what belonged to him, the sword that had